§ The Lord President of the Council (Viscount Whitelaw)My Lords, as Leader of the House it falls to me to pay tribute to the memory of the noble Lord, Lord Byers, whose sudden death yesterday came as such a shock to me and to your Lordships. The noble Lord became a Member of this House in 1964, having already achieved distinction in several fields. While still at Oxford he won renown as an athlete, and held the British Universities' record for the 440-yard hurdles as well as taking part in several international athletic meetings.
The noble Lord had a distinguished career in the Army in the Second World War, in the course of which he served under Lord Montgomery as a member of the Eighth Army staff and, later, of the 21st Army Group Headquarters. He was awarded the OBE, was mentioned in despatches three times, received the Croix de Guerre and was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
Between 1945 and 1950 he served as a Member of Parliament for North Dorset; and from 1946 to 1950 he was Chief Liberal Whip in another place, an appointment which, as your Lordships will appreciate, personally endeared him to me. After ceasing to be a Member of Parliament, he remained a prominent and active member of the Liberal Party. In 1965, soon after he came to this House, the noble Lord became Chairman of the Liberal Party, an office which he held until his appointment in April 1967 as Leader of the Liberal Peers. That post was one which he was to hold with distinction for the rest of his life—almost 17 years. In 1972 he was appointed a Privy Counsellor.
Many of your Lordships will have had much longer experience than I of the major contribution which he made to this House over a period of many years, particularly in his position as Leader of the Liberal Peers. When I came to this House and found myself working with him as a fellow member of "the usual channels", I found him very much true to the form which I would have expected from my friendship with him over the years. He was always friendly and a pleasure to work with, while at the same time vigorous and determined. My own sense of loss will I know be shared by noble Lords in all parts of the house, for Frank Byers was a devoted and assiduous worker in the interests of the House as much as of his own party. The whole House will wish to express its deepest sympathy to the noble Lord's widow and family.
§ Lord Cledwyn of PenrhosMy Lords, on behalf of my noble friends I would wish to say that we share the sorrow and the shock which everyone felt on hearing the sad news of Lord Byers's death. Frank Byers gave outstanding service to his country in war and peace, and to the Liberal Party, to which he was dedicated; for although he was respected and successful in the business circles in which he became active, it is as a devoted Liberal that he will be remembered. He had served in this House for 20 years, and it was clear that he had a great affection for this place and was well-versed in its ways. As Leader of his party here he was firm, sensible and plain-spoken. Frank Byers never left you in any doubt about his views. He will be greatly missed, and we send our warm sympathy to Lady Byers and the family.
§ Lord WigoderMy Lords, the Liberal Peers deeply appreciate the tributes that have been paid to their late Leader, both by the noble Viscount the Leader of the House and by the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition Peers, Lord Cledwyn. Those tributes were generous and yet at the same time were entirely well-merited.
Of Lord Byers's achievements in public life, it is perhaps not right that I should devote too much attention this afternoon to them, although as a friend of his for some 40 years I am very much aware of them. Perhaps I might say just a few words about his service as Leader of the Liberal Peers for the unprecedentedly long period of some 17 years. During that period he became ever more mindful of the traditions of this House and ever more keen to act as their guardian.
He was the ideal leader for a minority party. He was firm, he was incisive, he was the most able of negotiators, and he had an instinctive political flair which meant that his judgment was almost infallible. Added to those qualities, he was a superb administrator, he was totally efficient; and he was extremely effective in your Lordships' House. The House will remember his speeches: invariably short; invariably packed with original thought and common sense; and always imbued with a warm humanity. Your Lordships may have seen that one of the obituaries in this morning's papers referred to the fact that, had he chosen to join another political party, he would no doubt have held high ministerial office. I have no doubt that that is true. I have no doubt also that the thought would never have occurred to him because he was at all times passionately imbued with his political ideals.
He passed away yesterday afternoon suddenly, and I think as he would have wished it: in his room in the Houses of Parliament to which he had devoted his life and to which he had contributed so much. I join with what has already been said in expressing our deepest sympathy to Lady Byers who was his happy partner in marriage for some 44 years, and to the members of his family of whom he was so proud and who brought him so much happiness.
§ Lord DiamondMy Lords, I hope that I may join in paying a short but very warm tribute to a great parliamentarian and a most co-operative colleague. Although it was as long ago as 1945 that I first came 997 to know Frank Byers, and well remember how at that time as Liberal Chief Whip he earned the respect of all of us who were Members of Parliament, it was only in more recent times that I had the privilege of working with him very closely, very co-operatively, very harmoniously, and indeed very happily. Your Lordships have already been reminded what a great all-rounder he was; and I should like to endorse what has just been said about the force of his speeches, which always seemed to me to be equally remarkable for their clarity, their common sense, and their brevity. But I feel that it is to his wife, Joan, that our first thoughts must go. I can only hope and pray that out of the love of her family and the warm and affectionate admiration of his very many friends she will find the inner strength to cope with her sudden and tragic bereavement.
§ Baroness Hylton-FosterMy Lords, I am sure that all those sitting on the Cross-Benches will want to be associated with the sympathy and tributes already expressed to the family of Lord Byers and to the Liberal Party. It was the noble Lord's clarity of thought and therefore brevity of speeches that set such an example to us all. He will be sadly missed in this House.
The Lord Bishop of RochesterMy Lords, I should like to associate those of us on these Benches with the expressions of sympathy that we have already heard. We respected Lord Byers as a forthright speaker; as one who, in the words of today's psalm, "spoke the truth from his heart". He never wasted time or words, and he was a consistent guardian of the rights of minority groups in your Lordships' House. We greatly regret the suddenness of his passing. We should like to express to his colleagues on the opposite Bench and to the members of his family the assurance of our sympathy and our prayers at this time.
§ Lord ShackletonMy Lords, there are a number of noble Lords, including the noble and learned Lord who sits on the Woolsack, who will remember Frank Byers from the Parliament of 1945–50 when he was a Member of the Commons. He showed then some of the qualities which have already been referred to both in the Army and later in Parliament, but I should like to refer to an area which has not been mentioned; namely, his contribution in industry. He was one of the driving forces, with Val Duncan, in creating the Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation. It was his liberal views which permeated and created a sense of humanity, particularly in the activities of that company in Africa, which have made a mark for history. This is particularly true in Zimbabwe, and I would not want this real achievement to be forgotten. He was a modest man. His entry in Who's Who is a very short one, but it could he a very long one.
Other noble Lords have referred to his parliamentary performance. Along with a number of colleagues, particularly the noble Earl, Lord Jellicoe, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Gardiner, I worked with him on House of Lords reform. Although it did not come about (for reasons I shall not go into now) he made a contribution of common sense, and was a good colleague. He was a colleague whom one 998 implicitly trusted; somebody with whom one was happy to work.
The noble Lord, Lord Diamond, has already referred in felicitous terms to the brevity of the speeches of Lord Byers. A number of times I have said to Lord Byers, "I really am jealous. You can say in 10 minutes what takes me 25 minutes". It was this succinct and decisive mind that contributed so rapidly and usefully to your Lordships. We all had an affection for him. He was a man of great energy, and he was properly described as a true Liberal. He was a man of the highest integrity.